Ronda J. Del Boccio's Blog: Writing is pure Bliss, page 25
July 9, 2015
Book Marketing Skills Book Review: Social Media Just for Writers by Frances Caballo
I encountered author and social media Frances Caballo through her podcast of the same name. It's short, useful, and straight to the point. Based on that, I hadhigh expectations of her book. I'm happy to report that she did not disappoint. I'd recommend listening to it. Here's the link.
Review - Social Media Just for Writers by Frances Caballo
Warning - this book COULD overwhelm you. It's not one of those how-to books you'll want to read cover to cover. There is a LOT of info. It's like the writer's social media desk reference, teaching the networks, tools and helpful hints and tricks to master them.
With a table of contents several pages long, this will no doubt be clear to you right away. But fear not, because each chapter is broken down into nice "bite-sized" pieces.
The only thing I worry about with this book is that you'll be so inundated with the various tools, planners etc that you throw your hands up in the air and stick your head in the sand.
That said, it's an essential reference. You'll get not merely an overview of the various social networks and the tools to manage them, but guidance on how to make the most of all of it. Nobody can predict which tools YOU will prefer, but with the listing and descriptions, you can check things out and make your best decisions.
Don't try to be in all networks. Pick one and get used to it, then branch out from there.
Buy Social Media Just for Writers on Amazon
Frances Caballo's website - SocialMediaJustForWriters.com
Frances Caballo on Twitter - @CaballoFrances
Follow your BLISS,
Ronda Del Boccio
best selling author, speaker and mentor
How Can Kindle Countdown Deals Help You Sell More Books? Video Tutorial
Have you tried Kindle Countdown Deals yet?
This is 1 of the 2 book promotion opportunities within the KDP Select program for Kindle Direct Publishing authors.
This allows you to run a special limited time promotion of your book. THe prie could go down to 99 cents, then go to $1.99, and so forth over the span of a week before returning to full price.
Watch this video tutorial and see how to use it.
Try out Kindle Countdown Deals and let me know how it goes!
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About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best 
selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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July 8, 2015
What Does Your Character Fear?
What does your character fear? It's an important question, because fear is perhaps the biggest motivator of action.
Here are some ideas for what fears might motivate your point of view characters and minor ones too.
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About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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July 3, 2015
Book Excerpt of Depraved by Woody P. Snow
It's fun to try a book before you buy. Here's a sample of the chilling book I reviewed earlier this week, Depraved.
Depraved by Woody P. Snow
Trapped between life and death, justice and revenge,
while a beautiful murderer lurks.
Evil disguises itself behind a mask of beauty in DEPRAVED. Finley Bliss must survive a shocking betrayal by his stunning, murderous wife Eva. Stranded in a coma and warehoused in a squalid nursing home, Finley must cross back over the mystical river of life to consciousness, so he can reveal the truth, exact justice and seek revenge . . . but how? Ruthless Eva has legal and medical protocols on her side — the authority to pull the plug to end his life support. Finley's only chance is a mysterious being he calls James Earl Jones who appears by the river to give him counsel.
Depraved is an insightful, genre-bending thriller — a gripping mystery and a compelling love story, from the beginning to the surprise ending.
Excerpt: of Depraved
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"Talk about it?" Finley flared. "Talk about it?"
Holy crap, something awful had just happened, something horrible. He couldn't remember what. A car accident maybe? No. No, it was something about his wife. Weren't they just talking about his wife? He had just said something about her to this guy, but what was it? Why was everything so jumbled? His head felt like it was splitting. And who was this guy anyway? Whatever. Whatever. Here he was. He was here now, in this place, this . . . where was he again? The lights in the room started to flicker. Wherever it was, they seemed to be having electrical issues.
"Stay with me," the old man said.
Finley stared.
"Are you a movie star?"
"Do I look like a movie star?"
Finley smacked his forehead.
"What is this, hell for boring people? Is that where I am?"
"Stop it," the man commanded. "Don't get all stormy on me." He steepled his fingertips together. "Please," he coaxed. "Easy. Easy."
Finley was anything but easy. He was outraged.
"So I'm boring; so shoot me." The abundance of impulses now discharging from the nerve cells in his brain generated a power surge. The circuit breaker was tripped, and those flickering lights went out.
James Earl Jones shook his head, started another game of solitaire, and waited.
There was no time clock in this arena, no measurement of time to speak of at all, so the question of how long Finley's brain remained offline was moot. Eventually, his head jerked.
"Oh, crap. Whoa. What is going on with me?"
The elderly black man watched as Finley struggled to refamiliarize himself with his surroundings.
Below him somewhere he heard air-filled balls bouncing on hardwood and saw ghostly people-shaped forms doing . . . something. Shooting hoops, that was it. His dad used to ask him to go out into the drive and shoot hoops before dinner. I'm in a basketball gym. He started to look around.
"Don't be looking 'round now," a voice from behind said. "You've got to watch something here."
Finley could not help but turn to see who had spoken.
The man smiled.
"You look like you're surprised to see me."
What a strange way to start a conversation.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.
"We've been talking for twenty minutes."
Finley struggled for context, but had to settle for déjà vu.
"Twenty minutes? You and I?"
"Maybe twenty hours," the man said.
Déjà vu, big time.
"You need to watch something here," the man said.
Finley wondered now if he had stumbled into some insane person's LSD trip or maybe onto the set of a bad Hollywood movie. Yes! A movie! That would explain the guy sitting just above him. Morgan Freeman? No, that wasn't right. Well, hey, this might be fun.
No, it wouldn't be. For one thing, his head ached like a train wreck, and, for another, he had no script. Had he lost it? He didn't know his lines. He didn't know his part. He was probably just an extra, but where was the director? None of this made sense, any sense at all, and, yet, somehow it all seemed familiar.
At the far end of the room, a blinding light poured through a door and a voice called out names: "Brinley, Brywell, Deffenderfer, Lewis, Reed, Taylor, and Vanaman."
Finley watched seven figures drop their basketballs, hustle into the luminescent tube, and start for the door.
"Head for the light, right?"
"Only if you're called," the man admonished. "That's what I've been trying to explain to you."
Finley stood up. "I'm going."
"No, you're not," the old man said. "Sit back down."
He didn't care if his name had been called or not. Finley wanted out. He hopped down the bleachers and headed for the river of light.
The man rose with alarm.
"Don't be a fool!"
That nagging voice that Finley had argued with all his life, the one in a back room somewhere in his brain, shouted, "You should have listened to that guy. You know who that was?"
The eighth and uninvited soul, Finley A. Bliss, trudged up the light-stream, followed the others through the door, and then tripped into oblivion. Total darkness. No light, no people. No floor. Just suddenly falling through emptiness like a grain of sand somewhere in space beyond the Milky Way.
Finley Alan Bliss ceased to exist. Almost.
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About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books.
See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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July 2, 2015
How to Tell a Great Story: The 3 Cs of Storytelling
Nonfiction writers need good storytelling skills and techniques as much as do fiction writers. Watch this video tutorial with the 3 Cs of Storytelling
Learn more in Story Power! Available from Amazon
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About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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July 1, 2015
Writing Skills: How Can You Boost Creativity?
Everyone gets a moment or two of scribal constipation from time to time. You know, those times when you know something's wrong with a scene but can't figure out what it is or how to fix it...or times when you want to make a scene more interesting but aren't sure how.
At times like those, you may want ideas to boost creativity. Often that means getting away from the desk! Here are some ideas for you:
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About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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June 30, 2015
Book Review of Psychological Medical Thriller Depraved by Woody P. Snow
Welcome back to another Write On Purpose book review. Each week, I review a well-written book, highlighting what makes it good from the reader’s perspective and what writing skills and techniques make it an irresistible read. Thus, each review serves both writers and readers.
This time it's a chilling psychological thriller called Depraved by Woody P. Snow. And I have to warn you this book is not for the faint of heart or the seuqamish.
Depraved by Woody P. Snow
Trapped between life and death while a murderer lurks, only thoughts of revenge keep him alive.
Trapped between life and death, justice and revenge,
while a beautiful murderer lurks.
Evil disguises itself behind a mask of beauty in DEPRAVED. Finley Bliss must survive a shocking betrayal by his stunning, murderous wife Eva. Stranded in a coma and warehoused in a squalid nursing home, Finley must cross back over the mystical river of life to consciousness, so he can reveal the truth, exact justice and seek revenge . . . but how? Ruthless Eva has legal and medical protocols on her side — the authority to pull the plug to end his life support. Finley's only chance is a mysterious being he calls James Earl Jones who appears by the river to give him counsel.
Depraved is an insightful, genre-bending thriller — a gripping mystery and a compelling love story, from the beginning to the surprise ending.
Now, did I find Depraved to be a worthy read?
I have to say at first I did not enjoy the book at all, well written though it is. I get seriously creeped out when there's anything about bondage, and our first point of view character Finley Bliss finds himself cuffed to a bed. I put the book down for some weeks and then skipped ahead some. I don't read to be freaked out.
But the book is 360 pages long, and jumping ahead for me was a good idea. Snow may be seriously sick and twisted, but he's a good writer. I ultimately gave the book a 5 star review on Amazon.
Drifting Consciousness
SNow does an amazing job handling Finley's drift of consciousness between wakefulness, coma and near death. This can come across as hokey or ridiculous with a less gifted author, but Snow handles what Finley experiences in a way that feels absolutely real.
The mind is a tricky thing, and under the influence of drugs, at the cusp of death, it creates its own realities. I love how Snow handled this.
Chilling Characters
Bliss's wife calls him the most boring man in the world. Geez, how unkind! He definitely suffers a sick betrayal by her hand. Some people just leave and take up with another lover, but not her! She definitely puts him through hell. You'll meet some unsavory people who help her torture her husband.
You'll also met a detective determined to get to the bottom of things, and a couple other allies.
But what becomes of a man who suffers such agonizing, lethal betrayal? "Boring" Finley becomes a very different person as the book progresses. He doesn't just want to reveal the truth. He goes for full on vengeance.
The 7 Deadly Sins
You'll experience most of the big 7 in Depraved. So many motivations mingle and grapple in this gripping tale.
Deep Issues
One aspect of the book I truly loved was the deep consideration of consciousness and all the medical and moral issues around whether someone is a viable human being. Depraved covers these issues from he perspective of various characters, and it makes the book all that much more compelling to me.
More Twists than a Roller Coaster.
If you like plot twists, surprises, and thought-provoking stories, this book will definitely thrill you.
All I can say is...since he made up characters and a story like this...don't get on Woody P. Snow's bad side!
About Woody P. Snow
Woody P. Snow, radio personality and award-winning author of The Boy Who Stole the Moon and Blood Silver, has been intrigued by the stories of recovered coma patients of their experiences while seemingly unconscious. He writes books and songs, paints and researches in the Missouri Ozarks.
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Ronda Del Boccio
#1 best selling author, speaker, and Amazon Top Reviewer
About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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June 26, 2015
Writing Skills Book Review: Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J. Cohen
Some writer friends and I had a rousing discussion about whether our work in progress books were cozy mysteries or not.
A cozy mystery has a dead body or two, but not a lot of gore. The reader can cozy up with a good book by the fire, under a blanket, and have a good story without being terrified or having a lesson in forensics. An amateur sleuth gets involved trying to solve the riddle of "whodunit."
I go into more detail about it in this article.
Hannah Swensen (Murder She Baked) series and the Cat Who series are examples of cozies. I like them, because I'm not a big fan of true crime.
So I was thrilled to find this book,
Writing the Cozy Mystery by Nancy J. Cohen .
I've read cozies of all sorts, from paranormal to historical, shopaholic to inept bounty hunter, and I may end up writing a series of my own.
This book is well organized and cuts right to the chase. I'd rather have 49 pages that get right to the point than wade through 250 looking for useful hints. Have a look at the table of contents:
You start by building the world of the story, which makes sense. The cast of interesting characters are as important as the sleuth him/herself. And over time, the sleuth and other cast members will go through all the usual ups and downs of life.
The chaper on building suspense was useful, and honestly tgere are lots of good hints for any sort of suspenseful writing in this book.
Throughout this book are exercises to help you create the cast of characters and make decisions about the clues and setting. I like that very much. When I'm ready to write my cozy, this will be a terrific tool set to use.
I gave Writing the Cozy Mystery a 5 star Amazon review.
This book will start you off right if you're writing a cozy.
Get your copy of Writing the Cozy Mystery on Amazon now.
Follow your BLISS,
Ronda Del Boccio, the Story Lady
#1 best selling author, speaker and Amazon Top Reviewer
June 25, 2015
Nonfiction Writing and Storytelling Skills: How Much of My Story Do I Tell? Video Tutorial
If you've ever struggled with how much of a personal story to include in an article or nonfiction book chapter, you're not alone. That's one of the biggest issues about which people ask me with regard to storytelling.
Watch this video tutorial to gain insight into how much of your story to tell and how to focus on relevance and emotion in order to connect with your reader.
For more help with storytelling skills, you can get the streaming or DVD format of Story Power, a 90 minute in-depth storytelling class I did in Atlanta.
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Ronda Del Boccio
#1 best selling author, speaker, and Amazon Top Reviewer
About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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June 24, 2015
How Do You Make Readers Care about Your Characters?
Have you ever read a book or story and put it down because you simply didn't care what happens next to the main characters? That is a HUGE flaw in writing! You don't want to do that, and neither do I.
This article by Natasha Lester is great, because she shares the 4 emotional elements she considers when writing a scene.
I believe that fear is at the heart of all good drama: what we are afraid of doing, or of not doing, what we are afraid of feeling, what we are afraid of learning, what we are afraid of losing, what we are afraid of loving.
I happen to love this useful emotions quadrant Lester uses when writing each scene. I'm going to whip I out and give it a try myself. Thanks, Ms. Lester! Read original article source here.
Let me know if you try it and what you think.
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Ronda Del Boccio
#1 best selling author, speaker, and Amazon Top Reviewer
About Ronda Del Boccio
Ronda Del Boccio is an award-winning and best selling author of both fiction and nonfiction. She tells transformational tales and helps visionary authors turn their dreams and imaginings into published books. See and order Ronda's books on Amazon.
Join Ronda's readers for free stories, sneak peeks at her next books and more at WriteOnPUrpose.com/read
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Writing is pure Bliss
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